Keeping you up-to-date with the all the latest NHS developments
May 2018 | Issue No. 8

Glasgow Royal makes a world of a difference

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has joined forces with Olympus Medical to deliver desperately needed medical equipment to an adult teaching hospital in the poverty-stricken country of Malawi.

Malawi has one of the highest incidences of oesophageal cancer in the world.

There is also a very high incidence of life-threatening bleeding from the gullet and stomach due to schistosomiasis infection.

The availability of endoscopic equipment and training local clinicians in their use can significantly improve the outcome for these patients.

Professor Adrian Stanley, a leading Consultant Gastroenterologist based at Glasgow Royal Infirmary said: “Quite simply, these endoscopes, which would otherwise have ended up being decommissioned and scrapped, will help doctors in Malawi save many lives.”

Over the past six years, Professor Stanley has made regular trips to deliver equipment and regular training in Malawi.

This latest donation of five fully functioning endoscopes, which are used to diagnose and treat upper gastrointestinal cancer and bleeding, is the result of the dedication of NHSGGC’s John McGarrity who works in the Board’s procurement department.

Professor Stanley said: “John realised that when NHSGGC traded in equipment with Olympus Medical for a higher spec model, the equipment was sent back to the company and decommissioned. He contacted Olympus and myself and we explained the situation and managed to persuade the company to give us the endoscopes back, for donation to Malawi. This really is a win, win situation for everyone and hopefully will lead to more equipment donations in the future.”

As the tenth poorest country in the world, medical equipment and training of staff are desperately needed in Malawi.

NHSGGC now has a policy of donating any older, unused equipment to Malawi, once tested as safe and functioning by its medical physics team.

NHSGGC chairman John Brown said: “I am delighted that this equipment, which we no longer needed will be put to good use in Malawi, a country which has only one doctor per 100,000 people. In this its 70th year, we should appreciate how very lucky indeed we are to have our NHS, which arguably gives the best medical care in the world.

“I applaud the work of John McGarrity and Professor Stanley for their dedication in bringing this to fruition. It is a shining example of NHSGGC’s dedication to global citizenship and I look forward to hearing about their progress in this area."